Drop targets are individual targets in a pinball machine that can be knocked down by the user using a pinball. Once a drop target is downed, a coil resets the drop target to an “up” position after a predetermined period of time. Drop targets can be set up as isolated or as groups, or banks, of drop targets, with the goal being to knock down all targets of a bank. When all drop targets of a bank are in a “down” position, a single coil raises all targets in the bank up simultaneously.
Drop targets can also be configured such that a game can lower some of the targets based on certain rules in the game. For example, in a pinball game based on the game of poker (see, e.g., Gottlieb's 1977 Jacks Open), after making certain sequences, only the “royal flush” would be available by resetting up all of the drop targets, then collectively retracting the drop targets that do not make up the royal flush cards.
With the advent of computer-driven solid state pinballs, games can “remember” what targets had been previously hit and dropped (see, e.g., Bally's 1980 8-Ball Deluxe). To accomplish this, a game resets all drop targets to the up position, then uses individual “trip” coils to knock down the drop targets which had been previously hit. This setup is called “individual trippable.” With the introduction of Williams' 1981 Jungle Lord, for example, drop target technology allows drop targets to be tripped all at once and individually reset up. This setup is called “individual resettable.”
Unique play modes are important to keeping a player's interest in a game over time. The individual trippable coils may be used for remembering previous targets, but for interactive features, they tend to fall short. For example, only the desired target may be able to move up. Thus, there is a need for a kind of target bank that can sustain a player's interest in a more complicated and interactive scenario, such as a “wall” with a moving hole for the player to shoot.